Guitar buying spending minimum?

Planning on getting my first serious guitar and not sure what would be the minimum to spend on it. Guitar I had before was an Epiphone Junior so now I actually need a good guitar of better quality. Been planning on getting an HSS Strat and saw a used MIM at a Guitar Center for about $300 but seemed a little too cheap so I wasn't sure. What would be a good amount of money to spend for a good HSS Strat?

to be honest if you shop around the minimum is very flexible. Personally i feel that getting into the mid range guitar starts at around the $500-$600 area but again that is a generalization. Any guitar above $500 should have good pickups and hardware and feel/play really nice. As always the sky is the limit spending on a guitar but $500ish should break you out of the entry level. Again, this opinion differs greatly from person to person and what one person considers mid range will be junk to another. this is just my opinion.

Quote by BlackVoid

Every guitar and bass forum I've visited has some people chasing some magical tone that will shoot jizzing unicorns riding on a rainbow out of their amp.

MIM Strats do tend to lose a lot of their value in the second hand market, so it's no surprise to find a Fender MIM Standard Strat that seems ''cheap''. $300 is pretty standard for a second hand one that's a few years old. Just check that it's not been bashed in or missing any parts.

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There's no minimum on what to spend on guitars, especially strats. I've played American Strats that I didn't like as much as my MIM. As long as it an upgrade from your current guitar it's worth getting. If you can afford something better than the strat then wait a while, to be honest with you, I find only the really expensive Strats to be the Really nice ones, but then I'm not that much of a fan to spend that amount of money on one.

to be honest if you shop around the minimum is very flexible. Personally i feel that getting into the mid range guitar starts at around the $500-$600 area but again that is a generalization. Any guitar above $500 should have good pickups and hardware and feel/play really nice. As always the sky is the limit spending on a guitar but $500ish should break you out of the entry level. Again, this opinion differs greatly from person to person and what one person considers mid range will be junk to another. this is just my opinion.

In response to this, I saw this elsewhere, and I may have added some slight tweaks to it, but I think this is a pretty accurate price table:

You CAN play anything with anything....but some guitars sound right for some things, and not for others. Single coils sound retarded for metal, though those who are apeshit about harpsichord probably beg to differ.

Sorry for the lack of brands/diversity, my brain isn't fully in gear yet

great post, there is a lot of deals to be had if you wheel and deal but this is dead on from my perspective. I usually try to squeeze as much as i can out of my money so often i find the barely used guitar and slice a few bucks off where i can.

Quote by BlackVoid

Every guitar and bass forum I've visited has some people chasing some magical tone that will shoot jizzing unicorns riding on a rainbow out of their amp.

Oh totally. I basically refuse to buy new. Both guitars in my sig are $600 guitars new, I got the H for $320 and the MH for $150. Buying new is just dumb, unless you're in a place where there is no used market, which is always unfortunate.

Look through the used guitars on guitar center online I saw some really interesting guitars for sale. I just bought a mid 90's jackson preformer that i'm sure will kick the shit out of something being made today. (On the lower - mid end).

Look through the used guitars on guitar center online I saw some really interesting guitars for sale. I just bought a mid 90's jackson preformer that i'm sure will kick the shit out of something being made today. (On the lower - mid end).